Slide fasteners



MICHIYUKI TAMURA Sept. 12, 1967 SLIDE FASTENERS 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Nov. 29, 1965 i Z-E.

PRIOR ART IN VENTOR. Mam W10 7/5 7094 PRIOR ART Sept. 12, 1967 MICHIYUKI TAMURA SLIDE FASTENERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 29, 1965 RI 3 mm vE m, K W M N United States Patent C) 3,340,579 SLIDE FASTENERS Michiyilki Tamara, Yakohama-shi, Kanagawa-ken, Japan,

assignor to Yoshida Kogyo K.K., Tokyo, Japan, a corporation of Japan Filed Nov. 29, 1965, Ser. No. 510,182 Claims priority, application Japan, Sept. 10, 1965, 40/ 55,497 1 Claim. (Cl. 24205) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A slide fastener chain comprises a pair of substantially endless tapes. One of the tapes is provided with fastener elements along substantially the entire tape edge. The other tape is provided with tape portions devoid of fastener elements at predetermined intervals so as to form a series of spaced groups of fastener elements.

This invention relates to improvements in slide fasteners of the type having a prec-ut stringer length as well as of the type having a continuous or substantially endless stringer length as is commonly termed fastener chain. 7

-It is the .usual practice of the slide fastener manufacture to provide individual slide fasteners of standard length having both upper and lower tape ends devoid of fastener elements or continuous slide fastener chains each comprising a series of such individual fasteners spaced apart by a distance substantially corresponding to the length of the tape portion which is free of fastener elements. To produce such slide fasteners or chains, it has hitherto been necessary to discontinue the operation of attaching fastener elements to tape intermittently or remove at predetermined intervals the fastener elements attached endlessly to both tape stringers, thereafter inserting the slider to mesh the fastener elements.

The above conventional method has the drawback that if the starting ends of opposite fastener elements fail to exactly register in mesh, the element-free tape portions or blank areas of the two corresponding stringers tend to shift out of phase. Moreover, it is uneconomical to waste the fastener elements once formed on the tape.

The difliculty in meshing or interlocking the fastener elements of a single piece of fastener with element-free tape areas of the opposite stringers held in registry has been experienced none-the-less in the process of sewing the fastener to fly strips of a garment or bag.

Whereas, it is the primary object of this invention to provide improved, useful slide fasteners of this character which assure and facilitate interlocking of the fastener' elements in desired position, eliminating the above-noted difficulties.

It is another object of the invention to provide improved, useful slide fasteners or fastener chains of this character which have suflicient tolerance for positioning on a garment or the like.

It is a further object of the invention to provide improved, useful slide fastener chains of this character which simplifies the steps involved in the manufacture of slide fasteners.

These and other objects and features of the invention will become more apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1-A is a plan view of an assembled piece of slide fastener embodying the invention;

FIG. l-B is a plan view of an assembled piece of conventional slide fastener;

FIG. Z-A is a plan view of a slide fastener chain embodying the invention;

FIG. 2- B is a plan view of a slide fastener chain of conventional form;

FIG. 3 is utilized to explain the manner in which the fastener elements of the slide fastener are about to be meshed according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is utilized to explain the manner in which the fastener elements of the conventional slide fastener are about to be meshed;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line V--V of FIG. 3 illustrating the relation between the slider and the tape according to the invention, and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line VI- VI of FIG. 4 illustrating the relation between the slider and the tape according to the conventional method.

Reference now to FIG. 1-A shows a slide fastener embodying the invention which comprises a pair of tape stringers 7 and 8, one of which stringers is attached with fastener elements 9 while the other is provided at both end portions thereof with spacing viz, devoid of fastener elements. The fastener elements may be of any suitable metal or synthetic resin and may take any suitable form such as of a coil (see FIG. 3 and 4) as they do not have substantial bearing upon the merits of the invention. Designated at S is a slider of the usual construction adapted to engage or disengage the two opposite tape stringers 7 and 8.

The fastener chain illustrated in FIG. Z-A comprises a pair of stringers 12 and 13 of substantially endless tape length, the former stringer 12 being provided with fastener elements 14 longitudinally over its entire length while the later stringer 13 provided with blank space 15 or 16 devoid of fastener elements at such intervals as may be compatible with the required length of an individual slide fastener.

It will be appreciated that the length of the blank portion 10 or 11 of the tape stringer or the length of the element-free tape portion 15 or 16 of the fastener chain which is substantially equal to the sum of the upper and lower spacings 10 and 11 of an individual fastener may be varied to suite the particular application to fly strips for a garment. Designated at the reference symbol F is a marginal line strip along which the fastener elements are attached.

In the manufacture of the slide fastener of fastener chain of the above construction according to the invention, it suifices to provide a blank space of predetermined length on one tape stringer while the other opposite stringer may be attached with fastener elements over its entire edge length. In such manner the fastener elements on both stringers may be easily interlocked by the insertion of a slider S without regard to relating the space portion of one stringer in exact registry with that of the other stringer as in conventional practice.

With a slide fastener of the prior art illustrated in FIG. 1B, it has required attention to mesh the starting fastener element of one stringer with that of the opposite stringer due to the presence of blank space 2, 2 or 5, 5 on both stringers. The same is true with a fastener chain of the prior art illustrated in FIG. 2-B which has space 4, 4 or 5, 5' on both stringers 6 and 6'. If this symmetric positioning of the two stringers is not obtained on sewing to a garment, e.g., fly fronts of trousers, it becomes extremely diflicult if not possible, to mesh the fastener elements by slider S and forcing the fastener elements into engagement would cause the fly strips sewn to the garment to appear unsightly.

The above difliculty inherent in such conventional type of slide fastener as shown in FIG. 1-B or FIG. Z-B may be eliminated by the use of a slide fastener constructed according to the invention. As shown in FIG. l-A or F-IG. 2-A, one of the two opposing tape stringers has both upper and lower end portions devoid of fastener elements while the other stringer has fastener elements attached along the entire edge length thereof. The end portion of the stringer free of fastener elements serves to let the slider fit easily over the fastener to close the abutting fastener elements. This operation does away with care to align the first abutting fastener elements of the tape stringers as required in handling the fasteners of the prior art.

The manner in which the slide fastener elements are brought into meshing engagement according to the invention will be more fully described below with reference to FIGS. 3 through 6.

Referring first to FIG. 4, there is shown a typical example of prior-art fastener comprising a pair of tape stringers T and T having attached thereto fastener elements of the plastic coil type 17, 18, 19 and 19 which are about to be interlocked by the movement of a slider S defined by imaginary line. Designated at P and F are reinforcing strings on which the fastener elements are secured, and at C and C are fly strips. As the slider S is inserted through the tape stringers T and T it is necessary to move one stringer out of line with the other stringer so as to avoid the head-on contact of the first abutting fastener elements 17 and 18. If it was possible to avoid the head-on clash of the first opposing fastener elements 17 and 18, there would be a tendency of the tape T to move downwardly with the result that the next element 19 comes in head to head contact with the element 18 and eventually the meshing of fastener elements commences with the element 18 and the element 19'. This situation would be aggravating where the opposing tape stringers T and T were positioned out of parallelism. In

fact, there could be considered no practical means of predetermining the position of the initial element 17 relative to the opposing element 18. Furthermore, it is diflicult to initially thread the tapes T and T through the slot of the slider S because both stringers having element-free end portions 20 and 21 tend to escape sideways from the slider S as this is more obvious from the illustration of FIG. 6.

Reference now to FIG. 3 shows a slide fastener of the invention which comprises a pair of tape stringers T and T fabricated with cloth or synthetic resin and sewn to fly strips C and C respectively. Designated at 22 through 25 are coil fastener elements secured along reinforcing strings F and F FIG. 5 shows the fastener of FIG. 3 with the slider S engaged with the element D on the stringer tape T With this construction, if the fastener is positioned initially with the element 22 in head to head contact with the opposing element 23, the tape T may be moved down slightly so that the element 22 fits snug in between the adjoining elements 23 and 25. Consequently, the next element 24 may be automatically brought into engagement with the corresponding element on the opposite stringer and thus, the subsequent element to element meshing can take place smoothly in correct position. It will be appreciated that the element array on stringer tape T serves as a guide for the slider S to pass the element-free portion of the opposite stringer tape T until it rides properly over the fastener elements on the tape T Although the end portion of either of the pair stringers devoid of fastener elements which characterizes the present invention is not limited dimensionally or geometrically in the foregoing description of the invention, it will be understood that the length of the element-free tape portion of an individual fastener or the intervals of such element-free portions on a fastener chain may be varied to suit the particular application, for example, to fly fronts of trousers, shirts, bags, book cases, pockets, etc.

What is claimed is:

A slide fastener chain comprising a pair of tape stringers of substantially endless length, one of said tape stringers being provided with fastener elements along the entire tape edge and the other being provided with tape portions devoid of fastener elements at predetermined intervals thereby forming a series of spaced groups of fastener elements.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,632,933 3/1953 Firing 24205.1l 3,020,613 2/ 1962 Morin 24-204 3,289,264 12/1966 Doelter 24205.l

FOREIGN PATENTS 558,341 6/1958 Canada.

BERNARD A. G'ELAK, Primary Examiner. 

